Chair construction having a spring support



c. SCHNEIDER CHAIR CONSTRUCTION HAVl [NG A SPRING SUPPORT 2 SHEETS-SHEET1 Aug. 19, 1952 Filed Sept. 25, 1948 I INVENTOR. Cimegss SCHNEIDER,

ATTORNEY.

g- 19, 1952 c. SCHNEIDER 2,607,397

CHAIR CONSTRUCTION HAVING A-SPRING SUPPORT Filed Sept. 25, 1948 2SHEETSSHEET 2' INVENTOR. ,CHAELES SCHNEIDER,

a? lull patented Aug. 19, 1952 I 2,607,397 I CHAIR'GONSTRUCTION HAVING ASPRING SUPPORT Charles Schneider, Los Angeles, Calif. "ApplicationSeptember 25, 1948, Serial No. 51,143

. 1. Thisinvention relates to improvements in chair construction andmore particularly to a separable frame which may be readily attached toa fixed base and to a chalr body for affordingfioating and yieldablesupport to the chair .body.

An object of this invention is to provide an improved chairconstructionby which a-chair body is rockable forwardly and-backwardlyand side movement is yieldably permitted without the-use of curvedrocker elements. Y

A further object of this invention is to provide an improved chairconstruction which is simple in structure, easy to manufacture, andwhich may be readily assembled. 1 l v Still another object of thisinvention is to provide a chair construction wherein a frame is providedwhich permits a chair body to be resiliently supported from a fixedbase; and which is compact in design toallow the chair body to besupported at a relatively low level.

Other objects of this invention will become apparent to those-skilled inthe art from the following description and claim.

In the drawings:

Fig. l-is a perspective view of a fixed base and suspension'frameembodying my invention.

Fig. 21s a sectional view bisecting a chair construction embodying myinvention, .the section being taken substantially in a vertical planelongitudinally through the chair.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary transverse sectional view taken in a verticalplane showing adifferent arrangement of the suspension frame.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary vertical longitudinal sectional view of a chairconstruction embodying a different modification of this invention.

1 Fig. 5- is a fragmentary sectional view of the structure shown in Fig.4, the section being taken in a vertical transverse plane indicated bythe line V-V of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view showing a different arrangementof the modification shown in Fig. 4'.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, a chair, generallyindicated at 2, may be of usual form and comprises a seat 4, a back 6,and side arms 8. The chair body 2 may also include a chair framecomprising a front transverse member l0 and a rear transverse member l2extending from the top of the back 6 almost to the floor level. Thefront and rear members I0 and 12 are connected intermediate their endsby longitudinally extending spaced members 14.

A fixed base is provided for the chair body 2, said base being slightlyshorter in length than the lar form.

1 Claim. (Cl. 155-54) internal dimension between the front and reartransverse members [0 and [2, in order to permit said members l0 and [2to partially enclose the fixed base. The fixed base may comprise a pairof spaced, longitudinally extending rails l6,

shown here as being simple members of rectangu- It is understood, ofcourse, thatthe spaced rails [6 may be formed of any desired shape.

A frame, generally indicated at I8, is provided for yieldingly,resiliently and movably supporting The frame l8 maybe sepathe chair body2. rately constructed and forms a rigid, rectangular, hollow structureextending between and connected to the rails l6. As shown, theframe maybe made of angle iron, the side angle; irons 26 being suitably attachedor connected to the rails l6 adjacent their top as'by wood screws orbolts and nuts, not shown. The side angle irons 26 may be connected bytransverse front and rear angle irons or outer members 22 and 24'.

Resiliently supported midway between the front and rear angle irons 22and 24 of the hollow frame I8 is a pair of spaced, longitudinallydispose-d, parallel, metal stirrup straps 26'lying in a substantiallyhorizontal plane. The rear end of each strap 26 may be connected to oneend of a rear horizontally disposed, helical spring 28, the other end ofsaid spring 28 being connected in anyv suitable manner to the adjacentcorresponding.

portion of. the rear angle iron or outer member 245 Similarly, the frontend of each strap 26 may be connected to one end of a front,horizontally disposed, helical spring 36', the other end of said spring30 being suitably connected to the front angle iron or outer member 22.The front and rear springs 36 and 26, respectively, and associated strap26 are aligned longitudinally and are disposed substantially parallel tothe side angle irons. It should be noted that the stirrup straps 26 aresuspended in relatively wide spaced relationship. v

Each strap 26 affords a seat on its top surface for a verticallydisposed inner'supporting member 32 which extends between each strap 26and the bottom of the seat of the chair frame. Each vertical supportingmember 32 may be of any suitable shape or material and may be secured toa longitudinal member IA of the chair frame and strap 26 by means of aplurality of spaced I that the suspended stirrup straps 26 positionedwithin the rigid hollow frame resiliently support the chair body 2 insuch a manner that the body simple, compact structure provided by usinga rigid, hollow frame with stirrup straps suspended rup straps 26 (Figs.1 and 2) or the L-shaped clip 38 (Figs. 4 to 6) suspended within theframe may be connected as in the first arrangement to the chair frameand as in the second arrangement where frame I3 is inverted and theinner support member may rest directly upon a floor surface.

It will be understood, of course, that although the frame is shown anddescribed as being rectangular in shape, the frame may be made of anyshape which is most suitable for use in a particular chair construction,such as trapezoidal, where the side members are inclined slightly towardeach other.

in substantially the same plane as the frame provides for a chairconstruction which has a relatively low seat and yet affords a floatingsupport without interference with the suspension means.

A difierent arrangement of the frame I8 is shown in Fig. 3, wherein'theframe I8 is inverted or turned upside down. In this view it will benoted that the side angle irons are attached to spaced, longitudinallyextending chair frame members 34 in any convenient manner, such as bywood screws; or bolts and nuts. The spaced coil springs and 28 supporttherebetween spaced stirrup straps 26 as described in the previousmodification.

In this arrangement the spaced stirrup straps 26 may be attached insuitable manner to spaced inner supporting members 36 which rest uponthe floor surface. The supporting members may be of the same shape andsize as rails l6 shown in Fig. 2. r

A different modification of the suspension frame is shown in Fig. 4,wherein an L-shaped metal clip 38 is directly connected to opposed innerends of the aligned coil springs 30 and 28, as at 40. The short leg ofeach L-shaped clip may be attached to a longitudinally extending chairframe member 42 intermediate its ends in any suitable manner. Thesuspension frame I8 is shown attached to base members It in a mannersimilar to that described in Figs. 1 and 2. It will be noted in thismodification of the suspension frame that the stirrup strap 26 has beeneliminated and the L-shaped member 38 serves as a direct connectionbetween the inner ends of the aligned springs 28 and 30 and the chairframe member.

A different arrangement of the modification described in Fig. 4 is shownin Fig. 6 wherein the frame l8 has been inverted so that the side angleirons may be connected to chair frame members as 34 in Fig. 3, and theL-sh'aped member 38 connected to the springs, 30 and 28 may have itsshort leg 44 resting upon a floor surface or a suitable block of wood orpad 46, as shown.

It will thus be apparent that the frame [8 may be inverted or turnedupside down so that the frame in the second arrangement may be connecteddirectly to the chair frame instead of base members l6, as shown inFigs. 1 and 2. Likewise, the inner supporting member carried by thestir- It is also to be understood that in certain chair constructionsthe side angle irons may be omitted and the front and rear angle ironsor outer members between which the stirrup straps are suspended may beconnected directly to front and rear transverse structural members of achair frame, especially where the chair frame itself may provide therequired rigidity. In such an arrangement the stirrup straps or innermembers may be connected to base rails seated upon the floor or othersupporting surface.

Unit I8 may be sold as an article of commerce to manufacturers offurniture.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that Various changesand modifications may be made in the structure described above which ismerely for illustrative purposes only and it is intended that theinvention will not be limited except by the scope of the claim appendedhereto.

I claim:

As an article of manufacture, a flat preassembled unitary frameconstruction for use in furniture, comprising: a rectangular rigid openframe including inter-connected side and end angle iron members, eachdisposed with an inwardly extending portion lying in a common plane; aplurality of fiat metal spaced stirrup strips lying in said plane inspaced parallel relationship with said side members; a spring connectedto each end of each stirrup strip and to the adjacent end member of theframe, the axis of each spring normally lying in the plane of saidstrips; and means for connecting a chair frame to said strips.

CHARLES SCHNEIDER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,130,022 German Sept. 13, 19382,164,163 Piper June 27, 1939 2,454,932 La Valliere Nov. 30, 1948FOREIGN PATENTS I Number Country Date 594,616 Great Britain Nov. 1'7,1947

